


Mercy Killers

by thatviciousvixen



Series: coup de grâce vignettes [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5966263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatviciousvixen/pseuds/thatviciousvixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I should have known he’d send you to kill me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mercy Killers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Neilicca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neilicca/gifts).



> Happy fic exchange to neilicca! I played a little with the organized crime AU idea, I hope this works for you!

“I should have known he’d send you to kill me.” 

Hux is a mess. His golden-red hair surrounds him like a halo of fire, hanging around his face in limp tangles as it brushes his cheeks. Both eyes are black, the left nearly swollen shut. Blood seeps from his nose before dripping down to his chin, slipping past his lips and painting his teeth a violent red as he bares them at Kylo. Whoever tied him up down here did a number on him. It makes Kylo sick. He hates the sort of men who have to tie a man down to best him.

“Well?” Hux snarls, spitting a mouthful of blood at Kylo’s feet. “Might as well get it over with.”

For his part Kylo remains silent, looking around the room they’ve been holding Hux in. It’s little more than a basement, dim and dirty and well below Hux’s station as one of Snoke’s right hands. Former right hand. It’s meant to be a slap in the face, an assault on his pride. Kylo reaches up and swats at the bare lightbulb hanging above him, watching it swing back and forth on the chain. They haven’t left him anything to complete the job with; he’ll have to go with his usual methods. 

“You know,” he muses, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a lethal looking straight-razor. “You put yourself in this situation.”

Hux snorts, turning his head away. He makes a point not to look at the blade in Kylo’s hands. The less he knows the easier it is to conceal his fear. “Ren, save me the lecture. We know where this is leading, just get it over with and spare me the speech.”

“No, I don’t think I will.’ Kylo pulls a chair over, sinking into it as he stares Hux down. “If you hadn’t been so god damn greedy, so hungry for power, he wouldn’t have to get rid of you. He’s afraid of you, don’t you understand that? You’re too bright, too charismatic. His employees adore you, it’s pretty disgusting to watch them fall all over themselves to carry out your orders. He’s afraid you’re going to sweep control of the family right out from underneath him.”

The laugh Hux responds with is ice-cold. “He’s afraid I’m going to sweep _you_ out from under him. If I’m going to start a business it’ll be one of my own. I don’t want a second hand legacy.” He huffs out a breath, trying to flick his hair out of his face. “If I _was_ going to start a business. I won’t have that chance now, will I?”

A flare of anger rises in Kylo’s chest. He leans forward, grabbing Hux by the hair and twisting to force his head back. “This is the problem. You’re so fucking cocky, so sure of yourself. If you showed an iota of humility you wouldn’t be down here, strapped up in this chair.”

Hux hums softly, a bored sound as he closes his eyes. “Men in positions such as ours can’t afford humility. The weakest wolves are the ones cast out of the pack and left to the elements.”

A flash of a memory, Hux saying something similar as he and Kylo lay in bed together weeks ago. Kylo snorts and lets go of his hair, resisting the strong urge to backhand Hux for how flippantly he’s taking all of this. If only he’d known a life of crime would be this taxing…

“So what, you’re just going to close your eyes and calmly let me slice your throat?”

Hux looks up at that, eyes flickering with something akin to hurt. Kylo almost wonders if he’s imagined it. “What choice do I have, Ren?” he asks, voice low. “They send you when they expect the job to be done properly. You decimate any task that stands before you. You’ve killed countless men for him, never once bringing heat down on yourself for it. Your jobs are neat. Clean. Why do you think I started to admire you so much after hating you for years?” He draws in a slow breath, ragged and pained. “I’m not going to best you in a fight, even if I weren’t tied to a chair with two or three broken ribs.” He laughs, shaking his head. “I suppose it’s a small mercy that yours is the last face I’ll see. At least it’s a face I’ve come to enjoy.”

“Don’t try and play to my emotions.”

Hux scoffs at this, shooting an incredulous look up at the man sent to murder him. “Please, Kylo. You don’t have emotions to play to.”

“Not what you would have said a week ago,” Kylo points out, opening the razor. The light of the bulb above catches on the blade, reflecting into Hux’s eyes. His pupils dilate, pushing the blue of his iris into thin rings. 

“A week ago you were on my side.”

Kylo looks up, eyebrows knit. “I’m on my own side. How many times did I warn you that it would come to this if you weren’t careful?” He can think of at least three instances off the top of his head, tucked away in Hux’s high rise, drinking expensive scotch together and trying to imagine lives that didn’t involve...this. Watching that damn orange cat chase cloth mice across the carpet, the feel of Hux’s bare feet pressed against Kylo’s calf as they listened to old records, dancing on the balcony in the rain…

“Don’t get sentimental on me,” Hux spits, once more baring his teeth like a cornered animal. “Do it. Finish the job and go back to daddy, tell him I’m out of the way and I won’t be a problem. Come on, Kylo. Be the blunt instrument I know you are.”

Kylo sighs, shaking his head. He walks over, bending to brace his hands on Hux’s thighs. “I wish you could have kept your mouth shut. I might actually miss you.” He leans forward to press his lips to Hux’s, the kiss slick and copper-bright with blood. When he pulls away his mouth and chin are wet with it. He leaves it there.

“I wouldn’t have chosen this, Brendol,” he murmurs, walking to stand behind him. 

“Don’t you Brendol me,” Hux grits out. His voice his trembling. He’s afraid and trying so hard not to show it. Kylo strokes his hair back, reaching down to touch the hands tied behind the chair. 

“Stay still,” he whispers, raising his arm.

He brings the razor down in a shining arc, swift and sure with his movements. When he’s done two pieces of rope flutter neatly to the floor, falling away from the raw wrists they’d bound together.

Hux keeps his hands in place behind his back, afraid to move. “Ren?”

Kylo shakes his head, closing the blade and tucking it in his back pocket. “Stand up, you damn idiot. We have maybe two hours before Snoke realizes we’re gone and that the goons upstairs are dead.” When Hux doesn’t move he grabs him roughly by the bicep, yanking him out of the chair. “Stand _up_!”

Hux stumbles to his feet, managing to find his footing. He turns, studying Kylo’s face before a wicked grin spreads across his own. “Car?”

“Running, in the parking garage,” Kylo says, walking briskly past and heading up the stairs. He’s careful to look around before leading Hux in the open, straight for a simple looking black sedan parked among a myriad of other cars. 

They’ve got four hours to get out of the city and somewhere safe. He figures once they’ve accomplished that they can figure out how to take over the world together.


End file.
